


The Blue Hole

by SophieD



Series: Leverage  Date Nights [9]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Belize - Freeform, Blue Hole, F/F, Femslash, Lesbian Sex, Music, Scuba Diving, Vacation, beach, beginner, luau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 15:01:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6381040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieD/pseuds/SophieD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara takes Sophie on another adventure vacation</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Blue Hole

**Author's Note:**

> I love comments and constructive criticism. If you see something you like, let me know. It makes me want to write more for these two

“Bloody Hell Tara! You have got to be kidding!”

Tara is so excited she is practically levitating off the bed. I am sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed in my flat, an opened box with torn wrapping paper is on my lap. Tara is sitting next to me, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I reach into the box and pull out a diving mask. “No way. No way Tara. I am not going to do this!”   
“Oh c’mon Soph! It will be fun!” she pleads. “I’ve already made all the reservations and everything”. I sigh. “Don’t I have to take a bunch of classes or anything?” She looks a bit sheepish. “Well, you’re supposed to…but I can teach you. It’s not hard. I’ll hold your hand”. “Tara”, I try again, “I don’t think this is a good idea.” She looks disappointed. “Ok. Just come to Belize with me then. We’ll have a ton of fun. We’ll find you a resort course and then we can go.” I know I’m going to regret this question. “Where can we go?” She smiles. “The Blue Hole of course!”

Tara is right about one thing. Belize is wonderful. Our hotel is more like a series of bungalows planted along the Caribbean where the water meets the white sand of the shore. Iguanas frolic among the large native plants. Parrots and toucans call from the tree tops. Everywhere you look, colors burst in bright greens and oranges and reds. We find a charming Belizean restaurant a short walk from the tourist strip where we eat fish dragged from the sea just this morning and colorful rum drinks decorated with tropical fruit. The night is warm and we walk hand in hand through the town and along the shore back to our bungalow. 

Tara has arranged to have a huge bouquet of flowers delivered as well as a bottle of Cuban rum, fresh pineapple juice and a basket of fruit, enough to last several days at least. The room is heavily perfumed with the smells of the flowers and the sea and the tropical night. I sink into the soft bed and stretch myself out with a deep sigh of contentment. I have completely forgotten about the diving trip. The only thing on my mind tonight is Tara and what else she might have planned. As is most often the case, with Tara, I am not disappointed.

We sleep late into the morning. No sheets or blankets are needed. Between the warm Caribbean air blowing through the wooden slats that substitute for windows and Tara’s body wrapped around mine, I am perfectly warm and comfortable. I am awake now but I am careful not to disturb Tara. I am at peace with myself and I don’t want anything to disturb that.   
Eventually Tara wakes and stretches to her full length. I love watching her when she stretches like that. With her golden tan skin and long lean muscles she makes me think of a lioness. Like a cat, she is strong and powerful but moves gracefully and without a sound. I don’t want to interrupt her but I can’t help myself. I have to put my hand on her and pull it down her side, feeling the strength lying just beneath her beautiful skin. She moans and pulls harder into her stretch. “I was planning on going swimming Soph. I need some exercise” she murmurs. I smile at her. She can swim later.

Much later I am sitting in the warm sand. I am trying to read an old copy of Hamlet but I am drifting off and on. Tara is swimming along the shore where the color of the water changes from turquoise to blue. I can see flashes of gold as the sun catches the blond of her hair. When she finally emerges from the water, I pull her down into the sand next to me. Her skin is cool from the water and feels good on my skin next to the warmth of the sand. Tara kisses me, her wet hair dripping down my face and shoulders. She looks up and down the beach then smiles at me. “Tara! No. We can’t. We shouldn’t.” “No one is here Soph. We’re all alone.” I try to protest again but she kisses me, taking my words and my breath away. She slides her hand up the cotton shift I am wearing. I moan. I want to tell her to stop. I want to but I can’t. Her swim suit barely covers her and it’s no chore for me to slide my hand down her back and inside as she lays on top of me. It’s not long before her hands and her mouth are everywhere and I have no breath at all to protest.   
We nap together in the sand until the sun starts to sink into the jungle behind us. We rinse ourselves in the water then head back to our bungalow to change for dinner. Late that night, I sleep, full and satisfied and happy.

Tara wakes me early the next morning. “Tara. No. Later.” I mumble. “C’mon” she says, tugging at me. “We’re going to be late.” I groan. “Late for what?” “Your class. You remember. We’re going diving!” I groan again. “Can’t we just…” “No we can’t Sophie” she says. “Get up!” I mumble “Bloody Hell Tara” under my breath. She just laughs and moves away from my hand when I try to grab her.   
Before I know it, I am sitting in the shallow water in front of one of the big ostentatious hotels wearing the ridiculous looking mask Tara gave me. The others in the class are a cute young Dutch couple and an older American couple – both hairy and overweight. The instructor is of African descent but speaks in an odd British sounding accent. He’s trying to explain something about time and depth and bubbles in the brain. I feel like I should be paying attention to what he is trying to explain but all I can think about is how I am going to make Tara pay for doing this to me. Tara already told me the only thing I need to remember is not to hold my breath. The rest is easy. Um hum. Maybe for someone who is half fish like she is but I am definitely not the mermaid type. I try to focus on the young man again but now he’s talking about rate of ascent and descent and clearing my ears, whatever that means. 

The young instructor passes out odd looking jackets with air tanks attached and hoses that seem to snake everywhere. He teaches us to “breathe normally” while am gripping with all the strength in my jaw to a bit of rubber. Every breath sounds like Darth Vader having an asthma attack and the bubbles are startlingly loud as I breathe out. Breathe normally my ass! I try to remember Tara’s words “just don’t hold your breath”. “Why?” I probably don’t want to know.

Finally, we move to slightly deeper water and we practice going up and down and clearing our ears. I understand this now as I forget the first time and pain sears through my head. More things I need to remember. ‘Don’t hold my breath (I still don’t know why but I am afraid to ask), clear ears, breathe normally’. I’m going to have to kill Tara for this one, I’m pretty sure.  
Several hours later, the instructor declares us “safe to go” and hands out certificates that prove it. Tara appears out of nowhere to walk me back to the bungalow. She asks me how it went, did I love it? I glare at her and she drops it. 

She has one more surprise planned for tonight. I just want to lie down and forget all of the lessons that are becoming more and more jumbled in my head but she throws a sundress at me and tells me we need to leave. I silently swear that this is the last time that I will ever let Tara plan a vacation! 

I reluctantly dress and we walk again along the shore, this time to a wide sandy area in front of another tacky American looking hotel. People are already gathering and locals are running around delivering an amazing amount of food for a Belizean style luau. I give Tara a quick kiss. This is the sort of arrangement I can appreciate. We sit in the sand, our backs against a low wooden wall while young local men and women put a stunning amount of fresh sea food over an open flame. Fish, squid and mussels that are still salty from their previous night in the sea are served with mango, pineapple, watermelon and fresh juices. We are not drinking tonight, Tara says it’s because we are diving tomorrow. I don’t need it anyway, my head is already swimming with the smells of the flame and flowers and Tara sitting next to me. 

As the remains of the feast are cleared away and the sun sinks slowly behind us, a small band comes out to play. Steel drums and acoustic guitars play out a gentle rhythm while young people sing in a mix of English and Creole. Tara finds several large tropical flowers. She puts one in my hair and one in hers. The smell is intoxicating. I find my head beginning to wobble. Tara quietly suggests I move to sit in front of her, pulling me between her legs. I lean back into her and rest my head on her shoulder. She wraps her arms around my shoulders, her legs around my waist. She moves one hand down, under her leg, using it for camouflage while she slowly moves her hand up my thigh and under my skirt. I am in no position to protest. I let her slowly begin to touch me. No one around us seems to notice or to care. They are all under the same spell as we are. She caresses me slowly while she sways to the beat of the drums. There is no urgency, no destination, I close my eyes and sink farther into my trance. 

As the music stops and Tara slowly pulls her hand away, I begin to come back to my senses. She whispers in my ear “Come Sophie. We can finish this later.” I have no words as she pulls me to my feet and wraps me in her arms. She pulls me tight and nuzzles my neck and my knees begin to buckle. I feel the flames that she started begin to move through me and I pull her tighter. She laughs quietly in my ear. “Not yet Sophie. Not yet.” “Bloody Hell Tara” I mumble as she pushes me away. She wraps her arm around my waist, holding me up while we walk painfully slowly back to our bungalow. Once inside, she pulls me into her again. One arm holds me tight to her while the other finds the bottom of my skirt again. I fall into her and she half carries me to the bed where she does exactly what she promised on the beach. 

Tara is up with the sun and pulling at me again. I groan and throw my arm over my eyes. I try to roll away but she grabs me and starts to pull me off of the bed. “Get up Soph!” She says, “we’re going to be late!” “For what this time?” I regret the question as soon as I ask. “The Blue Hole!” “C’mon. The boat is leaving soon.” “Food?” I ask. “They’ll feed us on the boat. Here’s your suit. Get your stuff and let’s go!” I groan again. “Can’t we just…” She smiles at me. “Bloody Hell Sophie! Just get up so we can go.” I have to laugh at her for that one. I give in and reluctantly get out of the warm bed. 

We make it to the boat, just in time. As the young captain pushes from the dock, one of the mates brings us fruit and water. I nibble on my pineapple. Tara is so excited she can barely sit still. I can feel the energy radiating off of her and it gives me a bit of my own. I finally decide to ask “Tara, what exactly is this blue hole we’re going to?” “Oh my God”, she replies. “It’s only the Discovery Channel’s number one place in the world to visit!” I give her a dubious look thinking that it can’t possibly be any better than Paris. The fact that it involves water and that ridiculous looking mask pretty much guarantees it in my mind. She continues “It’s a huge sink hole in the middle of a reef. It’s like 900 meters wide and over 400 meters deep!” I feel my jaw drop, certain now that Tara is insane. “The water is crystal clear and the color when you look down is the most magnificent blue.” Right. If I look down, which I am certain I will not be doing. “There are all sorts of fish and sharks and things that come from the reef to swim around you.” Umm hmmm. This is so not going to happen. “And then later we can do another dive on Light House reef which is part of the second largest barrier reef in the world. It runs all down the coast of Central America and has some of the best diving in the world. Eat something. We’ll be there in an hour or two.” Food is definitely not what I want right now. I think longingly of the soft bed in the bungalow and the warm sand on the beach and all of the things we’ve done there. I sigh. The things I will do for this woman.

We finally reach the reef and the boat captain drops anchor at the edge of the Blue Hole. I look over the side of the boat and I am totally amazed. Nothing that anyone could, no photographic depiction could ever match the incredible beauty I see around me. The reef is shallow and I can see all sorts of life moving over it then, suddenly, the world ends and all that is left is the most intense blue I have ever seen in my life. The water is so clear it is as if I am looking into the center of the earth itself. I am stunned into silence. No one, not even Tara can find words. Suddenly all I want to do is sink deep into intense azure water and be overwhelmed by the all-consuming peace that it offers.

“Alright,” the dive master says, jolting me back to reality. “Welcome to the Blue Hole. This one is real deep, starting with a drop off from forty feet that goes right the way down to the bottom past 400 feet.” The man holds up a detailed custom drawn map of the site and points as he talks. “We will go down fast to one hundred and thirty feet where stalactites come down from this overhang. We will stay there for a maximum of twelve minutes, starting from the time that the first pair gets there. We all need to keep together and watch each other. To make sure that you all keep an eye on your depth, the dive pair who goes the deepest will buy a round of drinks for everyone back at the shore.” (part of an account written by Glyn Collinson who wrote a much better description than I ever could at http://www.belize.com/belize-blue-hole).

I find myself wearing all of my scuba gear and perched on the rail of the boat, my back to the water. Despite my fascination with the blue hole, I begin to panic. Tara grabs my hand and whispers “I would never let anything happen to you.” She shows me how to hold my hand over my mask and mouth piece and tugs me over backwards with her into the water. She helps me to slowly let the air out of my jacket and holds my hand as we start to sink into the deep blue water. Once my head goes under, my mind is fully consumed with my ears and my breathing. I try to feel Tara’s hand in mine as she holds it tight. I start to get into the rhythm of breathe, clear, breathe, clear and Tara helps me to balance my air and weight until we finally reach the rest of our group at the edge of the shelf. I try to relax and start to look around me. I feel as if I am suddenly transported to another world and all thoughts of ears, air and land disappear from my mind. I am suspended, completely weightless in another world full of strange formations and endless blue. Between the sounds of my breathing, I hear chirps and clicks and other sounds that are completely unfamiliar to me. Too soon, the dive master signals that it is time to ascend. Tara pulls me back to her and starts to put air into my jacket. We begin to slowly rise, letting air from the jackets as it expands and working with our ears until we have almost reached the surface. Tara adjusts my buoyancy until we are weightless, just a few feet under the water. She pulls me close and we stay there, rising with our inhales and sinking with our exhales. She holds me tight to her and I close my eyes and listen to the sounds of air and the ocean. I know that this is the most peaceful moment I will ever have in my life. 

Back on the boat, we eat fruit and drink water and lie in the sun for several hours. The boat moves over the reef to a shallow spot where we prepare to dive again. This time, sitting on the edge of the boat, I feel nothing but excitement and Tara’s hand tight in mine. We only go about 30 feet under the water, floating weightlessly above the coral. I think there can’t be anything more beautiful than a coral reef bathed in turquoise until Tara pulls out a small flashlight and begins to light up great pieces of hard brain coral in bright greens and whips of soft coral in pinks. Sponges in brilliant reds, yellows and oranges pop up from everywhere around us. Fish in every color of the rainbow dart all around us. A turquoise parrot fish, with scales that reflect the light back at us, nibbles on coral with loud cracking sounds. Tube worms disappear as we pass over only to reappear suddenly behind us. Gold and silver jack fish are everywhere. A queen angel fish in bright yellow and iridescent blue swims slowly by, inspecting us carefully. Tara pokes her light into a crack in the reef then pushes me towards it. A large nurse shark looks carefully at me then decides that I am nothing of interest and slowly swims away. I squeeze Tara’s hand and silently thank her for showing me this wonderful new world.

The reef dive is longer and, by the time we return back to the boat, I am exhausted and my senses are completely overwhelmed. We eat again, I can’t believe how hungry I am, then lie together on the deck while the sun sets and the boat cruises back to the mainland. I am sure that this is a day that I will never forget and I am insanely happy that Tara has chosen to share it with me.

Notes: First of all, I would never condone a beginner’s attempt at a technical dive like the Blue Hole and would think hard before I would dive with a company who would let Sophie anywhere near it. Also, most of my descriptions are based on dives I’ve done on the island of Roatan, one of the Bay Islands off the Caribbean coast of Honduras and part of the same barrier reef that runs along the coast of Belize. All of my facts and descriptions about the Blue Hole are from research. If anyone has any problem with my information, I invite you to take me there so that I can get it right.


End file.
